HOMELESS AND DYING
Deaths soar by 15% in a year among destitute
THE number of homeless Scots who died last year soared despite measures to offer temporary accommodation in lockdown.
Official figures show an estimated 256 people died without a home of their own in 2020 – a rise of 40 on the previous year.
More than half of the fatalities were linked to drugs, according to National Records of Scotland.
Almost 80 per cent of deaths were male, with the majority being under the age of 45.
West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and South Ayrshire had the highest rates of homeless deaths by council area.
Sean Clerkin, a veteran anti-poverty campaigner, described the deaths as an “avoidable disaster”.
The co-ordinator of the Scottish Tenants Organisation said: “The Scottish Government has to accept full responsibility for this avoidable disaster. They never listened and have failed to act year after year of increasing homeless deaths.
“We need to build thousands more quality social homes so that homeless people and their families do not linger in squalid, substandard temporary accommodation on their own.”
Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin said: “It is deeply troubling to hear of so many deaths of homeless people in Scotland in only a year.
“With such a steep rise in numbers, there must be a full and frank investigation into the damage done by the pandemic.”
Housing Secretary Shona Robison described the deaths as a “tragedy”.
She added: “Scotland already has some of the strongest homelessness rights in the world, and we are working to strengthen these even further.”